No-confidence motion in Parliament: Unable to decide, BJD walks out

Sources said BJD president and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik took the decision to stay clear of the debate because the TDP had moved the motion.

Last-minute call: BJD members stage a walkout on Friday. (PTI photo)

THE BIJU Janata Dal (BJD) was set to participate in the discussion on the no-confidence motion and stage a walkout ahead of voting. Party leader Pinaki Misra was ready to make a speech too. But around 10.30 am on Friday, it was conveyed from Bhubaneswar that the party’s 19 MPs should stay away from the discussion.

So, even before Speaker Sumitra Mahajan called Jayadev Galla of the TDP to speak on the motion, BJD floor leader Bhartruhari Mahtab said: “During the last 14 years, BJD has witnessed that the UPA government’s rule of 10 years and four years of NDA have done injustice to the people of Odisha. So this discussion will not, in any way, be fruitful for the people of Odisha. Therefore, we are walking out. We are not participating in this discussion.”

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Amid heckling by Congress, Trinamool Congress, Left and other Opposition members, the BJD members walked out.

Sources said BJD president and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik took the decision to stay clear of the debate because the TDP had moved the motion. Odisha and Andhra Pradesh have been at loggerheads over the Polavaram project. So the BJD did not want to be seen as supporting the TDP. Sources said the BJD would have stuck to its original strategy if the motion had been introduced by a national party. The BJD, which is opposed by BJP and Congress in Odisha, has sought to maintain equidistance from both. The party had supported candidature of BJP candidate Ram Nath Kovind for the presidency, but had voted against M Venkaiah Naidu during the Vice President’s election.

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